Nursery World - By the rules

Our special dietary needs series continues with advice from Suzannah Olivier on how nurseries can provide for Muslim children whose families may follow a halal diet Islam is the world's second largest religion, with 1 billion followers worldwide and 1.5 million in the UK. Halal is an important and integral part of Islamic life and its rules are outlined in the Koran.

Islam is the world's second largest religion, with 1 billion followers worldwide and 1.5 million in the UK. Halal is an important and integral part of Islamic life and its rules are outlined in the Koran.

There are three categories of foods which are either:

* Halal, or foods that are lawful

* Haraam, or foods that are forbidden

* Mushbooh, or foods that are 'suspect' and cover a grey area between Halal and Haraam.

Other words you may come across are Makrooh, meaning 'religiously discouraged' or 'disliked', and Dhabiha, meaning 'slaughtered according to Islamic method'.

Main dietary practices

* No pork is ever eaten. This includes pork-based foods such as sausages, bacon and meat pies.

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